ladyfortuna:As much as I enjoy the fairy tale version of him, I find it weird that there are people in Russia in this day and age who buy into it. The age of the Internet coupled with the rampant renegades operating in Russia to bring us everything pirated under the sun must surely mean there can't be that many superstitious believers left in that country....

People in the U.S. buy into similar fairy tale versions of our leaders....

Obama:Fairy tale: poor boot strappy community organizer.Reality: private school educated, ivy league college graduate, worked as an attorney for community group (acting as an attorney for a community based group does not equal community organizer, or I am a community organizer, a religious organizer, and environmental organizer...).

There are similar fairy tail versions out there for most of our presidents, with focus on alleged poor beginnings, hard times, community activities, military careers... blah, blah, blah..... and we eat it up just as much as the Putin fans.

Somacandra:ladyfortuna: The age of the Internet coupled with the rampant renegades operating in Russia to bring us everything pirated under the sun must surely mean there can't be that many superstitious believers left in that country...

Russia has essentially returned to the third world status it had before the state capitalist Soviet era. The resources amassed in various state sectors were portioned off to members of the oligarchy who have gotten fantastically rich. If the country wasn't rich in natural resources though it would have next to nothing to offer the rest of the world. The Russian Orthodox Church was the only stable institution left so its influence has grown even more massive than before,

ladyfortuna:The age of the Internet coupled with the rampant renegades operating in Russia to bring us everything pirated under the sun must surely mean there can't be that many superstitious believers left in that country...

Russia has essentially returned to the third world status it had before the state capitalist Soviet era. The resources amassed in various state sectors were portioned off to members of the oligarchy who have gotten fantastically rich. If the country wasn't rich in natural resources though it would have next to nothing to offer the rest of the world. The Russian Orthodox Church was the only stable institution left so its influence has grown even more massive than before,

As much as I enjoy the fairy tale version of him, I find it weird that there are people in Russia in this day and age who buy into it. The age of the Internet coupled with the rampant renegades operating in Russia to bring us everything pirated under the sun must surely mean there can't be that many superstitious believers left in that country...